It wasn’t so long ago that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce was celebrating “Tort Reform Week” by urging the swift passage of the “Lawsuit Abuse Prevention Act.”

Now, in the wake of having been punked by the Yes Men over its head-in-the-sand climate policies, the U.S. Chamber is filing a frivolous lawsuit of its own, claiming that the Yes Men’s satirical activism constituted a “misappropriation” of the Chamber’s “valuable intellectual property.”

The Chamber’s complaint — filed by the lawyers of Hunton & Williams LLP — offers an object lesson in lawsuit abuse, seeking damages for everything from fraud to “cyberpiracy”, for actions that are clearly protected by the first amendment.

The Chamber runs a website called FacesofLawsuitAbuse.org that declares “lawsuit abuse is having a devastating impact on our society” and asks “Have you been victimized by a lawsuit? Do you know someone else who has?”